Submarine.



Patented Jun. 7, 1919.

, G. LOCKHART.

SUBMARINE.

Arme/mon min um. 1. ,m15`

GEORGE LOCKHART, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

SUBMARIN E.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 7, 1919.

Application led March 7, 1917. SerialNo. 153,188.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, GEORGE LocKHAnT, a citizen of the United States, resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county. and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Submarines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that type of under-sea lboat intended more especially as a scout and for that reason I have sacrificed all conveniences to obtain speed and strength.-

As generally constructed my boat will be short` probably not much longer than a launch and not-very much wider.

The boat has a double shell,.the exterior an armor plate shell and the interior a metallic shell of less thickness.

.The advantages of the construction will be 4 fully described as the specification progresses.

specification which follows.

In the drawings Figure 1 shows a longitudinal sectional view of my complete boat.

Fig. l 1s a sectional 4view on a large scale of the propeller shafts.

Similar reference numerals indicate like parts in all of the figures where they appear.

The exterior shell of my submarine is constructed of suitable armor plate and I desire that the thickness shall be as great as possible without a sacrifice of buoyancy. The upper portion of the shell slopes backward as shown at 2 and forward as shown at 3, and at about midships I arrange a low obser- .vation or conning tower 4, provided with a plurality of port-lights 5, arranged upon the quarterings of the tower.

Formed integral with or attached to the forward and aft ends of the external shell are ram points 6 and 7. These points should be of solid metal and they are connected together longitudinal of the boat bv means of a shaft 8, which may be a solid steel bar or a cylindrical and tubular bar. The purpose of this bar- 8, is toprevent thecrushing .of

the armor or the wall of the submarine when either of the rams 6 'or 7 come in contact with a resisting surface.

Upon each of the rams 6 and 7 and projecting through the outer armor are torpedo tubes 9 and 10 supported in the armor plate upon the bar 8. These tubes are stationary and are aimed in the manner customary in submarines, that is by maneuvering the boat.

The lower portion of the exterior armor is carried downward at 11 below the ram 6, and then gradually sloped farther downward to the center and upward as shown at 12 and 13. And somewhat adjacent to the aft ram 7, I provide a curved portion 14, in the armor for the reception of a fitting 15, through which the propeller shafts will pass.

he interior shell 1G is of a shape corresponding to the exterior shell and can and should -be made of lighter material, a material which will however stand the pressure of the water during the submerging of the boat. It will be noted however that that portion below the bar 6 is slightly wider than that above the bar 6. this for the purpose of retaining the device upon an even keel.

Arranged within the boat and with its center of gravity below the axial center and slightly aft of thelongitudnal center is my engine 17, which' consists as shown in the drawing of a 12 cylinder V type engine 0f an appropriate size. I desire, however that it be understood that my engine is large as compared to other submarines and this for the purpose of obtaining the highest possible speed. To obtain this high speed I com.

pound the propeller, that is, I provide three sets of propellers as shown at 18, 19 and 20. All of these propellers are however driven from one main engine shaft. This compound drive is accomplished by internal and external gears shown in Fig 1'A where 21 indicates a shaft directly connected with the engine shaft or clutch 25, and with the propeller blades 18. The hollow shaft 22. internally geared to be driven from the shaft '21. is connected with the propeller 19, and

the larger shaft 23, internally geared to be driven from the shaft 22, is connected to the larger propeller 20. My experiments have demonstrated that by this method of compounding I not only obtain a higher speed but I also prevent the formation of what is commonly termed propeller vacuum. The

larger propellers drawing the water upward and forcing it through the smaller propellers. To obtain a proper alinement of the propeller shafts with the engine shaft I provide a universal joint 24.

Forward of the engine 17 is a smaller engine 26, which may be employed for starting the larger engine, but which I also employ for operating the air and vacuum pumps 27, and forward of the pumps 27 are air sup'- ply tanks 28 and 29, which will be later referred to.

As it is my desire to economize space I arrange a gas supply tank 30 over the propeller shafts and I connect that tank with a second gas tank 31 under the engines and from where, by means of a vacuum feed system, the engines obtain their sup'ply of fuel.

I intend that my submarine should operate entirel by means of the gasolene engines and there ore I have found it necessary to provide means for taking care of the exhaust from the engines. The means that I have devised consists of tanks or chambers 3l and 32, arranged one on each side of the engine and extendin over any unoccupied portion of the lengt of the boat. By a crossover manifold all of the engine cylinders discharge into one of these tanks and when the pressure of that tank is raised to a point sufficiently high to show a back pressure u on the engine by means of an automatica ly or manually operating valve I cause the exhaust to enter the other tank. In the meantime the pumps 27 have been reducing the pressure in the unused exhaust tank and have been compressing the discharged gases into one of the air tanks 28 or 29. I operate my pumps 27 until the tank will show a considerable vacuum and then the pumps are connected to reduce the pressure 1n the other tank. As it is my intention that my submarine shall not be submerged under operative conditions for a very reat period of time I am convinced that t is method of operation and the discharge of the engine exhaust into a vacuum tank can be accomplished without difiiculty.

When the submarine is at the surface the tanks 28 and 29 may be emptied and may if desired be filled with fresh air under pressure which will later be used to supply the air in the boat that will be exhausted byv the operation of the engines. A

The use of the engines for all purposes will make it unnecessary for me to provide a running battery or motor. I have however provided a small battery 33 and a small generator 34, which will e employed for the necessary lighting, gunring, if desirable, and i ition for the engines. The use of the ru der 34 and keelson 35 are too well understood tofrequire description. At

36 and 37 I show the arrangements and the means for supporting ammunitlon for the tor edo tubes.

'he hand wheel 38 and the binnacle are of an obvious construction and usefulness. The ush buttons 40 and 41 are for discharging the tor edoes, and the switches 42 and 43 for contro ling the operation of the engines as is the lever 44. The indicators 45 and 46 shovsT the speed of revolution and the battory volta e.

he bu ead or barriers 47 subdivide the space between the interior and exterior shells and assure that if the exterior shell is punctured suiiicient water will not be shipped to retard or hamper the complete operation of m boat and the hatches 49 are the means by w ich the boat may be entered.

Another advanta' e of my construction resides in the fact t at the double walls of the boat make it almost indestructible. A shot or torpedo may 'bend in the outer armor or even crack it or puncture it but a shot of sutlicient force to pass through both shells would move the boat bodily. This is true of the action of the boat itself, if either of the rams 6 or 7 contact with a surface of such high resistance that the ram could not )ierce that surface the boat would be moved ackward awa from the surface.

I do not believe that it will be necessary to supply a periscope for my boat as it may be submerged and brought to the surface so rapidly that the lights 5 may be employed for the pur ose for which a periscope would be provlded).

The operatin platform -is arranged between the'cylin ers of the engine at 60 and may extend forward and back suicient to provide a. support for the operator of the torpedo tubes however I have sacrificed comfort to speed and eiiiciency.

I intend that my boat shall operate withi a short radius or limited area and therefore it will not be desirable to provide sleeping quarters or crew quarters of any nature. The crew will under best conditions consist of not more than 4 and robably 2 men.

' It will however be un erstood that modifications may be made within the scope of the `appended claims without departing from the principle or sacrificing the advantages ofl the invention.

At 62 I have shown air bags arranged lin the bulkhead compartments. These ba will add buoyancy and are particularly va uiblle in the event of a puncture in the outer s el.

The air ma under an emergenc be used 0 replenish t e supply in the intenor of the oat.

The top of the tower 4 may be dished as indicated at 64 and when so constructedwill retain ar quantity of water this for the ob:4 viousf purpose of' further concealing the -iso boat as the elevation of the tower above the surface of the water, and when water is contained in the dished portion, will not interrupt the refraction of the surface disclosed to the vision of a Searcher.

Having carefully and fully described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A submarine having an exterior and an uterior shell, a plurality of rams upon said exterior shell and a bar between said rams and extending longitudinally through both said shells.

2. A submarine having an outer shell of armor plate, an interior shell of lighter material, a plurality of bulk-heads betweenv Said shells forming independent chambers therein, a ram at each end of said outer shell, a bar extending between said rams for rein forcing each said ram and torpedo tubes adjacent to each said ram and supported by said bar.

3. A submarine havin an exterior shell of armor plate, an interlor shell of li hter material, bulkheads between said she ls, a' ram upon each end of said outer shell and a bar extending between said rams and connected therewith.

Signed at New York city, county and State of New York this v1st da of March, 1917.

GEOR LOCKHART.

Witnesses:

G. E. SM-ALL, ARTHUR PHELPs MARR.

Copies o! this patent In! bs obttinod for he cents esoh, by sddx'essing the Commissioner at Pstents,

Washington, D. 0. 

